Customs officials discovered over 1.8 tonnes of smuggled frozen food crossing the northern border. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

LÀO CAI — The Việt Nam Customs said on Monday that officers at northern border checkpoints had directly detected and prevented more than 1.8 tonnes of smuggled frozen food of unknown origin from entering the country.

At 5pm on March 11, customs officers at Lào Cai International Border Gate in the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai, in coordination with the border guard station, discovered and seized 350kg of food unoriginal products.

The haul included 150kg of ready-to-eat dried sausages, 120kg of frozen sausages and 80kg of frozen meat skewers.

All of the goods lacked valid invoices and documentation, and no owner could be identified.

Earlier, at 5pm on February 8 at the same location, the local customs agency, working with the local border guard station, uncovered 335kg of ownerless smuggled food.

The consignment comprised 157kg of ready-to-eat dried sausages, 132kg of frozen sausages and 46kg of frozen meat skewers.

At the time of inspection, the goods were in a thawing state, with no valid documentation and no traceable origin.

Separately, on February 6, a customs control team detected and confiscated 323kg of frozen goods, without proper documentation on National Highway 70 in Lào Cai Ward in the province.

The shipment had been illegally stockpiled in preparation for transport into the domestic market.

At Customs Sub-Department Region 8, authorities have also repeatedly uncovered cases involving the transport of contaminated food from the border into the interior.

At 6.30am on March 6, in the waters of Vạn Gia Port in the north-eastern province of Quảng Ninh, customs officers at Vạn Gia Port Border Gate, in coordination with the local border guard post, intercepted an individual identified as N.V.H, 33, from Quảng Ninh Province.

He was operating a makeshift wooden raft disguised as a fishing vessel to smuggle goods across the border.

A search revealed 200kg of sausages that had become damp, mouldy and discoloured, along with 6,000 duck eggs, many of which were cracked and emitting a foul odour.

The entire shipment, valued at approximately VNĐ46 million (US$1,750), had no valid invoices or documentation.

Authorities at Vạn Gia Port Border Gate have completed case files and proceeded to destroy all unsafe food items in accordance with regulations.

Amid signs of a rise in the smuggling of unsafe food, customs forces are stepping up patrols and inspections along the border, while strengthening coordination with border guards and other relevant agencies to promptly detect and prevent violations.

The continued detection and handling of such cases not only serve as a deterrent to smugglers, but also underscore the customs force’s responsibility in preventing substandard food from entering the market, thereby protecting public health, maintaining legal order in border areas and stabilising the domestic market. — VNS